Blog

Posted by
BraedanWill Google have a working quantum computer by the end of 2017?">Will Google have a working quantum computer by the end of 2017?">
on 23 Jun, 2017

Quantum computing is the next step in the evolution of technology, experts say, and no company is leading the charge quite like Google. They are currently testing a 20 qubit processor, and are on track to develop a 49 qubit chip by the end of the year.

Well, what is a qubit? Qubit is short for “quantum bit”, and it is essentially a more powerful version of the “bit” that your everyday computer uses. However, they are much more volatile, and quantum computers are prone to errors.

In order to reach their goal of “quantum supremacy”, which is when quantum computers will be able to solve problems that ordinary computers can’t, Google will need to develop a 49 qubit processor with a “two qubit fidelity” of 99.7%. Two qubit fidelity is a measure of how error free a quantum computer is, and 99.7% is quite a lofty goal.

Alan Ho, an engineer working at Google, stated that his team is working on a 20 qubit system with two qubit fidelity of 99.5%. This is more error prone and less powerful than Google’s goal, but Ho is confident his team can deliver the 49 qubit chip by the end of 2017.

So what does this mean for consumers? Well, it is impossible to utilise the power of quantum computing without error correction, and Alan Ho says that error corrected quantum computers could be as far away as 2027. This means that we will not be seeing useful quantum devices any time soon.

However, if Google manages to pull off their goal of quantum supremacy, it will be a major breakthrough for quantum science.

Well, yes actually. Although the release of the new Kaby
Lake 7th generation CPU’s has met with a somewhat lack-lustre
fanfare from hard core gamers, for the rest of you that use your
computers/laptops for all the normal day to day stuff, plus some photo editing
and minor graphic work, they are actually much better than the previous 6th
generation.The [...]

How can I make my computer SAFE to give away? So, you have just bought yourself a nice new computer, and now you want to do something nice for someone, and give... away your old machine. It still works fine right? and would be ideal for a student or that kid down the block who [...]

Li-Fi – 100 times
faster than Wi-FiLi-Fi, a wireless technology that transmits data using light
rather than radio bands, has just been tested outside a lab for the first time,
and it’s really, really fast.Li-Fi, which was invented by the University of Edinburgh’s
Harald Haas back in 2011, uses visible light communication (VLC) and what is
essentially a very advanced [...]

Q. I’ve received emails from my bank that I suspect are fraudulent, but I’m nervous about ignoring them. What should I do?A. First, check the sender’s email address for misspellings. Fraudsters trying to lure you with a PHISHING SCAM might use an address that’s similar to a company’s official one, but not exactly the same. [...]

Imagine having this chip in your new gaming rig !Intel are releasing a new 24 core Xeon monster soon which it says will revolutionisethe speed and performance of high end servers.The Xeon E7-8890 is part of the 8800 V4 series that INTEL announced on Monday.They are also releasing a new 10 core chip for high [...]

JIGSAW RANSOMEWARE The most malicious virus ever written.A new ransomware has been released that not only encrypts your files, but also deletes them if you take too long to make the ransom payment of $150 USD. The Jigsaw Ransomware, named after the iconic character that appears in the ransom note, will delete files every [...]

For anyone
working in the aviation industry, the news that a Virgin Atlantic flight had to
turn back to London Heathrow after one of the pilots suffered an eye injury due
to a laser pointer aimed at the cockpit is distressing – but certainly not
surprising. This has become a growing problem, and is especially worrying now
that the lasers [...]

One of the most common questions We get asked when designing and building a new system for our clients is "What type of storge is better? HDD or SSD"I have touched on this subject before, however I'll go into a little more detail this time.The traditional spinning hard drive (HDD) is the basic nonvolatile storage [...]

For those of you still struggling with you old slow ADSL Modem/Router – Check out this behemoth ASUS announce their new RT – AC3200 Tri-band Wireless Gigabit Router. With a range of over a whopping 50 mtrs and a total of 3 separate access points ( 1 x 2.4 GHz and 2 x 5GHz [...]